Communications to pass computers as top market for ICs

The computer IC market is
forecast to represent 34 percent of the total IC market in 2016, down
from 42 percent in 2011, IC Insights said. A 12 percent decline in the
computer memory market is expected to cause the total computer IC market
to decline by 9 percent this year, the second consecutive year of
decline, according to the firm.

Meanwhile, IC Insights also
forecast that the market for automotive ICs would grow 53 percent
between 2011 and 2016, reaching $28 billion. Europe is the largest
regional market for automotive ICs, accounting for 37 percent of the
market in 2012, but the Asia-Pacific automotive is forecast to be nearly
the same size as the European market, IC Insights said.

IC
Insights further predicted an increase in demand for ICs in home
healthcare and medical applications, driven in part by an aging
population. Analog ICs are forecast to represent 45 percent of the total
industrial IC market in 2012, and are forecast to account for the
largest portion of the industrial IC market through 2016, IC Insights
said.

The 2013 edition of IC Insights' "IC Market Drivers—A
Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for
Integrated Circuits" will be available starting next month, with prices
starting at $3,190 for individual users.

This really doesn't surprise me. With the Internet of Things coming on strong, I suspect that this trend will continue for quite a while.
However, as more things get connected, more things will have computing capability added in. As the computing capability in those devices grows, are the chips still considered communications? Or do they end up being classified as computers?